Managing Disasters at the County Level: A Focus on Technology
In order to remain healthy, vibrant, safe and economically competitive, America’s counties must be able to anticipate and adapt to a myriad of changing physical, environmental, social and economic conditions. New and emerging technologies can be particularly critical for counties as they develop plans and programs to increase their resilience to unforeseen shocks. In a world increasingly driven by technology and data-driven decision-making, it is crucial for counties to continually explore data and technology solutions that can help them address local challenges. This exploration includes not only becoming more familiar with new and emerging technologies coming to market but also understanding when and how to introduce these new technologies into county operations.
Some of the most talked about disaster-related resilient technologies of the moment rely on real-time data, mapping and communications platforms. These include geographic information system (GIS), mobile applications, drones, social media, and renewable energies like microgrids. This publication explores how counties across the nation are leveraging data, mapping and application-based technologies to run government services more efficiently, less expensively to build resilience and self-reliance in the face of increasingly severe, frequent and costly disasters.
In 2017 alone, 813 counties received a presidential disaster declaration at least once, and 16 of those disaster events resulted in combined losses exceeding $306 billion. The case studies included within this publication spotlight counties which have taken a proactive approach to improving their understanding of and ability to communicate risk, more effectively manage facilities inspection, and embrace design and building strategies that create more secure communities for their residents. The populations of the featured counties range from 159,000 to 4.2 million residents, and a number of the projects were completed at no material cost to the county beyond staff time.
Download the full report at the link below:
Managing Disasters at the County Level: A Focus on Technology (.PDF)